Diary of an Avenger
by Arrowhead1996
Summary: Diana is the younger sister of Tony Stark. Her life changes dramaticly when her brother becomes Iron Man, but even more so when they join the Avengers. How will Diana's tender heart deal with the brutality of an alien war? How will she influence the Avengers for the better? And most importantly, how will her influence affect Loki?
1. Shock

**Hello, everyone! I hope you all enjoy my new duology. This will consist of two stories, but you don't get the second one until I have finished this one. Believe me, this will be painful for me as well, since the second one is my favorite. I will try to post every week, but I don't know how long it will take me to acctually watch Avengers since it just came out on DVD yesterday. (Squeal!)**

**SiOmniaFicta has helped me greatly with coming chapters, and it is because of her that this first chapter exists, so at least some credit goes to her. Also, I do not own Avengers or any characters associated with Marvel. I only own Diana.**

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Diary of an Avenger

Chapter One

Shock

13-year-old Diana Stark slipped in the kitchen door of the family home and cheerfully greeted the cook, a plump woman of about forty who went by the name of Martha. Martha had already set out a plate of cookies and a glass of milk for the teen.

Diana sat at the counter, enjoying the treats. "Do you have much homework today, Miss Di?" Martha asked.

"Not too much. Where is everyone?"

"Your father and brother are in their respective workshops and your mother is out visiting." Diana thanked her, and then took a few extra cookies downstairs with her to her father's workshop.

As she entered, Howard Stark looked up and smiled. Stoping his work, he stood and came forward to give her a hug. "How was school today, sweetheart?" he asked as he set her back on her feet. "Did you make any friends?"

Diana shook her head. "You should know not to ask me that question any more, Daddy. I don't think I'll ever have any friends other than Tony and Rhody," she chuckled at the unintentional rhyme, and then held up one of the cookies. "Martha just made these, I thought you might want one."

He smiled, then leaned down and bit the cookie out of her hand. She laughed, then asked, "So, have you and Tony talked yet?"

His smiled dropped, and he released her from his loose embrace. "I have work to do."

Diana sighed. She had been trying for a whole week to get the two of them together to talk about their most recent argument. Clearly, it still wasn't going to work. As she was about to leave, her dad called out, "Your mother and I have a date tonight, and Martha has the night off, so you'll have to fend for yourselves for dinner."

"Yes, sir. We'll just order pizza and watch something."

"Okay, but don't make a mess." Diana was already halfway up the stairs and didn't answer.

Tony Stark was working on a new gadget in his bedroom when he heard a soft knock on his door. He sighed and set down his tools. Maybe talking with his little sister would take his mind off his problems with his father. "Come in, Di." The door opened to reveal Diana standing calmly with her math book in one hand and a cookie in the other hand. "Need help again?" he asked, gesturing to the book.

"Yes, but I want to talk to you first," she said as she handed him the cookie. He bit into it, and studied her as he chewed.

Diana was a pretty girl with curly, dark brown hair reaching just past her shoulders. Her large, brown eyes were expressive, and showed up every emotion. Though her attitude with the family was outgoing and cheerful, she was not a people person and, at school, was quiet and shy. She never enjoyed the functions that their father dragged them to every now-and-then, and always found an excuse to leave early. Tony, on the other hand, enjoyed being in the spotlight, and, though his father largely ignored him, he basked in the attention from the multiple people at the gatherings.

The two siblings were surprising close considering their vast personality differences, and that he was four years older than her. Tony had always contributed it to the fact that he felt that he needed someone to be close to, since both parents were fairly distant. Diana was his anchor. The one person, other than Rhody, that he could turn to no matter what. She was always there to try to help him smooth over his multiple arguments and disagreements with his father. Sometimes he was jealous of her relationship with their father. He seemed to love her more than Tony. One good thing though, was that Diana never tried to use her position to get what she wanted and she never acted smug about it. Instead, she used it to help Tony. She was the mediator for his arguments with his father.

"What did you want to talk about?" Tony asked as he finished the cookie.

"Why are you always disagreeing with Dad?"

Tony sighed. He should have known that was what she wanted to talk about. "I don't know. Maybe if he would just listen to me sometimes instead of always hiding behind his latest project, I could find out."

"Don't put this all on Dad," Diana admonished. "You hide behind your projects too." Tony nodded, knowing she was right, but not wanting to agree with her verbally.

Diana came and stood next to him, running her fingers through his hair. "You need to try harder, Tony. I don't like seeing you two at odds all the time."

"I know you don't, Di," Tony whispered as he stood and set his hands on her shoulders. "I just wish he would listen."

"Why don't you tell him that?"

"I will, tomorrow."

"Good. By the way, Mom and Dad are going on a date tonight, and Martha has the night off. I told Dad that we would probably get pizza and watch a movie."

"Sounds good to me," he agreed. "How 'bout if we have Rhody over? He can keep us company." Diana nodded in agreement. "Alright then. Lets get your math finished up so that we can be ready."

That night, after their parents had left, Diana, Tony, and Rhody settled on the couch with two large pizzas, a two-liter of pop, and a good, action-packed movie. Diana always loved it when their parents went on dates, because she could spend time with her brother and her best friend.

Suddenly, during a more calm part of the movie, Diana felt a wave of fear wash over her. It left her feeling like there was something missing inside her. She grabbed the remote and paused the movie. Rhody was about to snatch it back, but then he saw the look on her face. "What's wrong, Di?" he asked, suddenly concerned.

For a moment, she didn't answer. She looked at Tony, and saw that he was looking at her questioningly. "I need to call Mom and Dad. I think something bad just happened. She yanked out her cell phone and handed the remote to her brother. "Please see if there's anything on the news." While Tony started pushing buttons on the remote, Diana dialed her father's cell phone number. The answering machine picked up, so she called her mom. Still no answer.

"Diana," Tony said quietly. Diana looked up at the TV screen. To her horror, she saw the news report of a car wreck that was being heavily reported on. Tony turned up the volume.

_"A tragedy occured tonight, as a semi ran a red light and broad-sided a car that was crossing the intersection. The car belonged to genius-inventor, Howard Stark. His wife, Maria, was in the passenger seat. Both were killed instantly."_

The moment those words came through the TV speakers, Diana broke down sobbing. Tony cradled her close, and whispered to Rhody, "Call Dad's secretary and our cook. Tell them what happened and ask Martha to come as soon as possible. The numbers are beside the phone." Rhody nodded and headed off as Diana burried her face in her brother's shoulder and cried.

By the time Martha had arrived, Diana had stopped crying, and was now perfectly silent. Tony was certain she was in shock. She would not respond to any questions, and would only move if someone was trying to get her to move.

Martha quickly took in the situation, and headed off to the kitchen to prepare some hot chocolate, cookies and other treats in an effort to draw Diana out of her shocked state. Meanwhile, the secretary, Trish, arrived with some of Howard's business associates. While Tony greeted each of them and accepted their condolances, Rhody posted himself at the door of the living room and wouldn't let anyone in except Martha and Tony.

Diana just sat on the couch staring straight ahead. Martha managed to get her to eat a few cookies, a brownie, and a piece of bread and drink a cup of hot chocolate and half a glass of water before she fell asleep against Martha's shoulder. Rhody offered to take her upstairs to bed, and Martha and Tony agreed. While Tony herded the men into another room, Rhody gently lifted Diana into his arms and, followed by Martha, carried her upstairs to her room and laid her gently on the bed so that she could sleep peacefully.


	2. Walls

**Aren't you blessed! You already get the next chapter. Sorry it is so short, I will try to make the next one a little longer.**

**In this chapter, you get a little hint as to how Diana might have an important influence on the Avengers.**

**SiOmniaFicta gave me info on Pepper and Stane for this chapter, so at least some credit goes to her. Also, I do not own Avengers or any characters associated with Marvel. I only own Diana.**

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Chapter Two

Walls

Rhody felt like he was watching his friends from the outside. Because of their close relationship, he noticed the drastic changes that occured during the years following the crash. Diana became even more quiet, hardly ever going out in public and keeping to herself even when she was at the house.

Tony did the opposite. He threw himself into society with vigor. Rhody knew Diana was worried about her brother, but she said nothing. When Tony was old enough, he took over Stark Industries and threw them into an age of technical superiority. As he shone in the spotlight, Diana faded into the background only appearing occasionally so that the press would remember that she still existed.

Martha was concerned for both of them, and Rhody took it upon himself to explain the situation to her in this way: Diana and Tony had each hidden behind their own walls. It seemed as though Tony wasn't hiding, but Rhody could tell that he was hiding the softer child under layers of popularity and a very obvious selfishness.

Diana's wall was more obvious. She was hiding, not only from the world, but also from herself. Her walls were the most likely of the two to eventually break down. Rhody would catch her occasionally gazing out the window as though longing for the life she used to have.

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Rhody was not the only one who watched the siblings closely. Obadiah Stane, a business partner of their father's, took an intrest in the orphaned siblings. He ran the company until Tony was old enough. He wasn't exactly happy that he had to give way before the young man, but he knew better than to press his advantage too soon.

Diana watched him almost as closely as he watched them. She was a little nervous around him, and had been since she had first met him. She didn't exactly understand why she was uncomfortable around him, but she knew that there was just something about him that put her on edge.

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Through all her trials, Diana had one friend who was always available to help her through all her pain... her diary. Onto its pages, Diana poured out all her hopes and fears for Tony and herself. All of her pain, and all of her joys found a home on the often tear-streaked pages. It was not uncommon for Martha to find Diana curled up in odd corners of the house sitting either indian-style with her diary on her leg, or with her knees drawn up to afford what privacy they could.

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**Dear Diary,**

**Tony hired a new assistant today. Her name is Virginia Pots, but everyone calls her Pepper. She used to work in finance, but when she found a mistake in Tony's calculations, a rare event, she pushed her way past the bodyguards using pepper spray. We have been getting along quite well. Between the two of us, we hope to keep Tony in line.**

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**Dear Diary,**

**I went to service today, and tried to get Tony to join me. As usual, he wouldn't. He doesn't understand my faith. He thinks it runs directly counter to the way he makes his living by building weapons. In a way it does. Defence is better than attack. His newest missile, the Jerico, is most certainly an attack weapon, not a defence one.**

**I need to go, Tony is leaving for Afganistan and I am going to see him off. Occasionally, I'll accompany him to different places, but not this time. He's a big boy anyway. Its not like anything's going to happen while he is showing off his off his newest missile.**


	3. A New Way of Life

**Please note, I have not acctually seen Iron Man, so the content of this chapter is based on what I could glean from the Marvel Wiki, and a script for the movie that I found online, as well as a few clips from Youtube.**

**Also, I do not own Avengers or any characters associated with Marvel. I only own Diana.**

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Chapter Three

A New Way of Life

When Tony returned from Afganistan after several months of capture, Diana was relieved to have him back, safe and relatively sound. She was worried about him, of course, but when he insisted on holding a press conference, she insisted with equal strength to be allowed to to accompany him. He said that he would be glad to have her join him, and that she would likely find what he was going to say to be interesting.

He was right. Diana was surprised at what she heard, but she was also proud. "I have had my eyes opened," he told the press. "I came to realize that I had more to offer this world than just making things that blow up." Diana smiled at this, and began to have a suspision about where her brother was going with this. "And that is why, effective imediately, I am shutting down the weapons manufacturing division of Stark Industries."

The room erupted in shouts of surprise, and a burst of questions. Their father's buisness associate, Obadiah Stane, was clearly as upset with Tony as Diana was proud of him. As they left, Stane remained behind for a moment to tell the press that they were going to have a talk and get back to them.

"I'm really proud of you!" Diana told Tony that night. "I've never felt comfortable with you always designing weapons. It's better to develop things for defense, not attack." She smiled at him, and then grew a little concerned. "What is this going to do to your reputation and the company? I'm not worried about us, but I know you care about the company a great deal."

"What's going to happen is that this will ruin everything!" Diana whirled around as Obadiah Stane's voice cut in before Tony could reply. "If you shut down the weapons devision, the stock prices for Stark Industries will plummet!"

Diana cringed away from Stane's outburst. She knew this could happen, but she also knew that Tony had done the right thing.

"We're Iron Mongers. We make weapons."

"We're gonna do something else," Tony replied calmly.

"Like what? You want us to make baby bottles?!" Diana chuckled at this, but composed her face before Stane looked her direction and glared at her.

"I think we should take another look at arc reactor technology." Diana liked this idea, but Stane didn't.

"The Arc Reactor is just a publicity stunt. It's not going to get us anywhere!" Finally, Tony got fed up. Pulling open the front of his shirt, he revealed a small Arc Reactor imbedded in his chest. Diana lept to her feet in surprise as Tony told the dumbfounded Stane that the glowing circle was keeping remaining shrapnel away from his heart.

"Look, um," Stane mumbled. "Maybe you should lay low for a bit until we can get things sorted out with the company."

"Yeah," Tony replied. "Maybe." Stane stood akwardly for a moment before he left. Tony turned to Diana. "You alright?" he asked gently.

Diana nodded and slowly approached him, her eyes on the glowing Reactor. She reached out and gently ran her finger around the edge. "What happened out there, Tony?" she asked softly. Tony led her to the couch and they sat down while he told her everything. He told her about building the suit while the terrorists thought he was building a missile. He told about Dr. Yinsen and how he distracted the guards so that Tony could get away. Diana smiled sadly at that. "I'm sorry he died, but I'm glad he helped you come home to me." Tony nodded. "So what now?" she asked. "Without the weapons division, what project are you going to work on now?"

"Well, I should try to make a better Reactor for my heart. After that, I'm not sure yet. I think I will try to perfect that suit I used to escape." He glanced at her. "Would you like to help me?"

Diana smiled at him and nodded, "I'd love to."

For several weeks, the two of them worked on the new Arc Reactor. Tony had Pepper help him instal it, and then they began work on a new suit. When Tony took it for a test flight, even though she and J.A.R.V.I.S. told him not to, it froze at the high altitude that he tried flying at. He was able to get it restarted before he crashed, and piloted safely to the house.

"Kill power," he told J.A.R.V.I.S. when he was close enough to the roof. He dropped, straight through three stories of their house! On the second story, he crashed through her piano. He landed on one of his many cool cars. Diana yelled at him for scaring her. "Don't do that to me, agian!" she told him. Surveying the smashed piano, she smirked. "I never liked that piano anyway," she said sarcasticly. She then handed him a box that Pepper had left behind earlier. To their surprise, it was his original Arc Reactor with a special border that said, "Proof That Tony Stark Has A Heart." Diana smiled at that.

"I have to come up something to keep the suit from freezing at high altitudes." Tony said to Diana a couple days later.

"Why don't you use the gold titanium from that project you did a couple years ago. I think you have some left."

"You are brilliant!" he cried as he hurried off to retrieve the titanium.

"That's debatable," Diana muttered to herself.

Dear Diary,

Life has been hectic lately. Tony finally perfected his suit, and created his signature colors, red and gold. He then had to fight against Stane, and just barely won. It was his fault that Tony got captured and nearly died. He even stole Tony's Reactor from his chest in order to power the original suit that Stane had had pieced together. Tony almost died, but he was able to get his old one installed just in time.

Tony is now being called Iron Man. I told him it was catchy, and he agreed. The whole world knows that he is Iron Man. I'm not so sure that was the best decision, but it's better than lying and saying that Iron Man is some kind of bodyguard like Rhody wanted him to do.

Since then, other than being worried about my brother 24/7, life has somewhat returned to normal. Tony and I have managed to start peeping around our walls, and are talking to each other more.

One more thing: a guy came and talked to Tony yesterday about something called the Avengers Initiative. Whatever it is, I'm sure that it will change our lives if we end up having anything to do with it.


	4. I Worry About You

**Please note, I have not acctually seen Iron Man 2, so the content of this chapter is based on what I could glean from the Marvel Wiki, as well as a few clips from Youtube.**

**Also, I do not own Avengers or any characters associated with Marvel. I only own Diana.**

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Chapter Four

I Worry About You

Six months after successfully defeating Stane and revealing to the world that he was Iron Man, Tony Stark felt that he was on top of the world. Life was sweet. He and his sister, Diana, had finally started to talk to each other more often, and they were rebuilding their great relationship that they had as kids.

Life was sweet at home, anyway. But even home was slowly being threatened. The military was determined to get control of the Iron Man armor. But Tony didn't want to give it up. "I am Iron Man," he told them. "The suit and I are one. To turn over the Iron Man suit would be tantamount to indentured servitude. You can't have it."

However, even his alter-ego was turning against him. The palladium in the Arc Reactor was slowly poisoning his body. Tony tried to hide it from Diana as long as possible. Since he thought he was going to die anyway, he started doing daredevil things.

He started racing a drag racer. During one race, he got literally cut off by a guy who called himself Whiplash. Using electrical whips, Whiplash cut Tony's car in two pieces, causing Tony to have to use his portable Iron Man suit, colored silver and red, to subdue him.

It was after this that Diana learned about the palladium. She was a jumble of emotions. She was angry at him for not telling her, and sad and frightened that she might lose him. "You're the only one I have left!" she told him.

She was also angry at herself for not paying close enough attention to the elements that Tony was using in his Reactor. "I should have caught this earlier! I could have saved you!"

Tony knew that she was scared, but he had lost hope that there was anything he could do. He couldn't even comfort her and tell her that it wasn't her fault. He threw what he thought was going to be his last birthday party. To Diana's horror and embarrassment, Tony got drunk while wearing his Mark IV Iron Man suit. Fortunately, Rhody was there and put on the Mark II suit and was able to subdue him.

Afterward, when Tony was still having a headache from the hangover, Diana yelled at him for the incident. "Just because you're dieing, doesn't mean you can make a fool of yourself!" she yelled at him. Then she stormed off to her room and made the following entry in her diary:

**Dear Diary,**

**Tony has gone completely nuts! The Arc Reactor is poisoning him, and he is slowly, but steadily, going completely insane! He had the stupid idea to throw a birthday party. It just ended... in disaster! He ended up getting drunk, while wearing his Iron Man suit. Thank goodness that Rhody was here, otherwise I don't know what I would have done. Probably thrown my notebook at him and kicked everyone out of the house.**

**Later**

**Now that my anger has subsided, my fear has had time to reappear. I may not like what Tony does, but I still love him. I wish I had someone I could talk to about this, but I've never really had any friends. I have no one to talk to about what I am feeling. I can only write to you, Diary, and pray to Iant that Tony will find something that will cure him.**

It was after the party that Tony was once again approached by Nick Fury, the guy who talked to him before about the Avengers Initiative. Fury gave him a chest that contained some things of his dad's in the hopes that Tony would find some sort of cure. What he found was a diagram for an element that he was able to synthesize with the help of Diana and their special computer, J.A.R.V.I.S.

The result was a triangular Reactor that also cured the palladium poisoning. "Diana, I'm sorry I gave up."

"Thank you. I'm sorry I yelled at you and blamed myself." She grinned mischiviously, "Now, why don't you take your newly healed body, put it in your totally cool armor, and go take care of the huge suits of armor created by Mr. Hammer that are determined to destroy your already doubtful reputation."

"Great to have some support from my little sister."

"You know I love you."

"Yeah, thanks."

**Dear Diary,**

**Tony is cured, and has defeated the army of suits that his rival, Justin Hammer, had created to get back at him for humiliating him in front of the military. Life is once again good.**

**Fury came to Tony to tell him that he is not considered eligible for the Avengers Initiative, but they want to bring Iron Man on as a consultant, which is funny considering the fact that Tony is Iron Man. This could be interesting. I just know that life will never be what passes for 'normal' in this family ever again.**

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**Okay, everyone! The next chapter starts the Avengers movie. I hope you all enjoyed this, and keep looking forward to the next chapter! Many thanks to the people who reviewed and favorited this story. I hope I can continue to keep your attention. )**


	5. Arrival

**Hey everyone! Surprise! This is the first chapter of the part with the Avengers movie. I hope you all enjoy this. I have certainly enjoyed writing it.**

**Also, I do not own Avengers or any characters associated with Marvel. I only own Diana.**

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Chapter Five

Arrival

The Tesseract had awakened. It had caught the attention of his allies. It was time to act. It was time to get back all that he had lost. They gave him a weapon. It was not just a weapon, but a symbol of his coming power. It was his link to the Tesseract. His link to unlimited power. What could those pathetic humans do against the power and truth that he was bringing them? There was no force that they could summon that would be powerful enough to repell the army he was going to bring against their world. It was time for his grand entrance.

The blue-white energy left over from his trip through the Tesseract wormhole hissed as it slipped away from him, spiraling toward the ceiling. Slowly he stood, looking up at the men with guns heading toward him. He took in the situation, looking around the room, guaging the kind of people that were in there.

"Sir, please put down the spear!" The voice rang with authority, but he had no intention of obeying. He lifted the scepter, looking at it for a moment as though contemplating the man's request. Then, he pointed it directly at him and fired a burst of blue energy from its head.

The men opened fire, but with the power of the tesseract running through him, the bullets did no harm. He lept toward them, scepter poised, and stabbed one man. He threw daggers at two others, fired at a woman hiding behind a consol, and slashed at another man nearby.

Others shot at him with pistols. The bullets hit and threw his head back, but did no damage. He fired at them. Two ducked out of the way, but he got another one. He kicked at a man still near him, and he slammed hard against the wall with a crack.

For the moment, there was no attack. One of the machines let out a shower of sparks that landed near one of the men who was trying to get up. He hurried toward him blocking his slightly feeble attack before he could do anything. "You have heart." He placed the tip of his scepter against the man's chest where his heart would be. Blue energy slid into him from the globe in the head of the scepter. He could see it creeping up the man's neck to his face. The man's eyes turned black for a moment, and then a glowing blue.

The man relaxed and placed his gun back in his holster. He turned and went to do the same to another man who stood not far away. "Please don't," he said, turning to the tall, dark-skinned man who had spoken earlier. "I still need that." The man was holding a silver briefcase that contained the Tesseract.

"This doesn't have to get any messier."

"Of course it does. I've come too far for anything else," The man finally turned to look at him. "I am Loki, of Asgard. And I am burdened with glorious purpose."

"Loki!" cried another voice from off to the left. "Brother of Thor." That made Loki mad.

_You're next, old man,_ he thought.

"We have no quarrel with your people," the dark-skinned man said.

"An ant has no quarrel with a boot."

"You planning to step on us?"

"I come with glad tidings. Of a world made free."

"Free from what?"

"Freedom. Freedom is life's great lie. Once you accept that, in your heart," Loki turned quickly, placing his scepter against the older man's chest, "you will know peace."

"Yeah, you say peace, I kinda think you mean the other thing."

"Sir," one of the agents that he had taken over walked toward him. "Director Fury is stalling. This place is about to blow. Drop a hundred feet of rock on us. He means to bury us."

"Like the Pharaohs of old," Fury confirmed.

"He's right," called the older man, "The portal is collapsing in on itself. We've got about two minutes before this goes critical."

Loki turned to the agent who had first warned him. "Well then." The agent pulled out his gun and shot Fury down, leaving the briefcase sitting on a platform nearby. He picked it up on his way past and handed it to the older man.

Loki was walking fine at first, but after several strong steps, he suddenly felt drained and bent for a moment in exhaustion before he managed to straighten. He felt tired from using so much magic and energy during the battle. He needed to rest, and he was glad when they reached the garage and he was able to sit down in the back of one of the vehicles.

"We need these vehicles," the agent said to a woman as they walked past.

"Who is that?" she asked.

"They didn't tell me," he replied.

_"Hill!"_ Fury's voice crackled over the radio and Loki looked quickly toward the woman they had passed earlier. _"Do you copy? Barton has turned!"_ The instant she heard those words, she looked quickly toward the first agent, who started shooting at her. She dove out of the way behind a wall, as Barton jumped from the platform they were standing on down to where the vehicle sat. He quickly got in the driver's seat and took off as Hill continued to shoot at them from behind.

They were driving down a tunnel and being pursued by several other vehicles. Loki had recovered enough to use his scepter to eliminate one car which ran off to the side and flipped over blocking another car behind it. Suddenly, another car, being driven by Hill, cut them off from the front and spun around so that the two vehicles were nose-to-nose.

Hill shot out the passenger side of her windshield and fired through the hole while Barton shot through the side window. Finally, Barton stopped shooting and swerved the vehicle back and forth until Hill's vehicle spun to the side and fell behind them.

Rock started falling behind them, and eventually trapped Hill's vehicle, but did not trap them. They exited the tunnel, and were almost immediately confronted by a helecopter that tried to cut them off. Barton turned off the road, and onto the dirt and grass that spred to the left.

Loki stood in the back of the vehicle, bracing himself on the roof as the helecopter came around in front of them again. Fury shot at them twice before Loki fired his scepter at the helecopter, droping it to the ground. After it crashed, more shots sounded behind them, but their vehicle made it safely to a dirt road and sped away.

Back at the site of the wrecked helecopter, Fury was speaking into his radio. "The Tesseract is with a hostile force. I have men down. Hill?"

In the collapsed tunnel, Maria Hill climbed shakily out of her trapped jeep and spoke into her own radio. "A lot of men still under. Don't know how many survivors."

"Sound a general call," Fury said. "I want every living soul not working rescue looking for that briefcase."

"Roger that."

"Coleson, get back to Base. This is a Level Seven. As of right now, we are at war."

"What do we do?" Coleson asked over his radio.

Fury didn't answer. He was thinking of an idea. It had been initially shut down, but now, they needed a response team.


	6. You have Homework

**Hey everyone! You finally get some fun stuff with Diana. I really loved writing this chapter. I laugh every time I watch this scene. Please don't be shy about reviewing! I only have one right now. Reviews feed the muse!**

**I also wanted to point out that this story is the ClearPlayed version of the Avengers. This means that some of the words and scenes are either cut out, or adjusted so that they are not bad words.**

**I do not own Avengers or any characters associated with Marvel. I only own Diana.**

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Chapter Six

You Have Homework

Tony Stark was underwater, carefully applying a device to some wires to disconnect Stark Tower from the city grid. Pepper Pots and Diana Stark were in the tower keeping track of his progress through Jarvis. "Good to go on this end," he said. "The rest is up to you."

"You disconnected the transmission lines? Are we off the grid?" Pepper asked.

"Stark Tower is about to become a beacon of self-sustaining, clean energy."

"Assuming the Arc Reactor takes over and it actually works?"

"I assume. Light 'er up."

Diana looked over at Pepper and nodded. She pressed a button, and lights started to come on starting from the bottom of the building, and ending with the huge Stark sign on the side of the tower.

"How does it look?" Pepper asked.

"Like Christmas," Tony replied. "But, with more me." Diana rolled her eyes. "I saw that!" she laughed.

"We need to go wider on the public awareness campaign," said Pepper. "You need to do some press. I'm in DC tomorrow. I'm working on the zoning for the next three buildings-"

Tony cut her off, "Pepper, you're killing me. The Moment, remember? Enjoy the moment." Tony flew to the landing pad and slowly walked in as Jarvis took off his armor.

"Sir, Agent Coulson of S.H.I.E.L.D. is on the line," the A.I. told him.

"I'm not in. I'm actually out."

"Tony, it's not good to make Jarvis lie for you," Diana said.

"Who said I was lying? I am currently standing outside the building." Diana chuckled and shook her head, but decided to let it drop.

"Sir, I'm afraid he's insisting."

"Grow a spine, Jarvis. I got a date."

"Levels are holding steady," Pepper said as he waked in. "I think."

"Of course they are. I was directly involved, which brings me to my next question: How does it feel to be a genious?"

"Well, I wouldn't really know, now would I?"

"What do you mean? All this, came from you."

"No. All this came from that," she briefly touched the glowing, blue, miniature Arc Reactor imbedded in Tony's chest."

"Give yourself some credit, please. Stark Tower is your baby, give yourself twelve percent of the credit."

"Twelve percent."

"An argument could be made for fifteen."

"Twelve percent of my baby?"

"Tony," Diana interrupted. "I'd be willing to give up my claim to some of the credit if you split it half-and-half."

"Where does your credit come from?"

"If Pepper gets some, then I get some for helping you keep your thoughts straight."

"But why shouldn't I get most of the credit? I did do all the heavy lifting. Litterally, I lifted the heavy things. And, sorry, but the security snafu. That was on her. My private elevator."

"You mean our elevator?" Pepper said, slipping back into the argument as she poured champane into glasses for them.

"It was teeming with sweaty workmen," Tony sat on the couch beside Pepper. "I'm going to pay for that comment about percentages in some subtle way later, aren't I."

"Not going to be that subtle."

"I'll tell you what, next building is going to say Potts on the tower."

"On the lease."

Tony pulled his glass of champane back before they could clink and leave him committed. "Call your mom. Can you bunk over?"

"Tony!" Diana exclaimed while Pepper just laughed.

A ding sounded, and Jarvis spoke. "Sir, the telephone. I'm afraid my protocols are being overridden."

Tony's phone popped up with a picture of Coulson, "Mr. Stark, we need to talk."

Instead of actually answering the phone as himself, Tony held the phone up and said, "You have reached the Life Model Decoy of Tony Stark. Please leave a message."

"This is urgent."

"Then leave it urgently." Fortunately for Diana, Coulson actually entered the room at that moment, eliminating her need to keep from laughing.

"Security breech!" Tony called. "It's on you," he added to Pepper.

"Phil!" Pepper stood to greet the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. "Come in."

"Phil?" Tony said, surprised that Pepper was calling him by his first name.

"I can't stay."

"His first name is Agent," Tony said. By now, Diana was laughing helplessly on the couch, and was desperately trying to compose herself so that she could say hello to Agent Coulson correctly.

"Come on in," Pepper said, ignoring Tony. "We're celebrating."

"Which is why he can't stay."

Diana managed to get herself off the couch and to the group by the elevator in time to see Coulson hold a thick, plastic case out to Tony. "We need you to look this over as soon as possible."

"I don't like being handed things," Tony said.

"That's fine," Pepper interjected, "because I love to be handed things, to let's trade." She took the case from Coulson and handed him her champane glass. Then she turned to Tony, took his glass from him and took a drink while handing him the case.

"Official consulting hours are between eight and five every other Thursday," Tony said.

"This isn't a consultation."

"Is this about the Avengers?" Pepper asked. Diana nudged her, and she quickly added, "Which I know nothing about."

Tony pulled some kind of tablet out of the case he was holding and spoke as he walked toward his desk. "The Avengers Initiative was scrapped. I thought, and I didn't even qualify."

"I didn't know that either."

"Yeah, apparently I'm volatile, self-obsessed, don't play well with others."

"That I did know."

"That is a very good description of you, you know," Diana said, following him to the desk.

"See, my sister agrees with you. That's got to tell you something."

"This isn't about personality profiles anymore," Coulson said.

"Whatever," Tony said, and Diana slapped him on the arm. "Miss Potts, got a sec?" he asked, gesturing to Pepper while looking at the screen.

"Half a moment," she said to Coulson, and headed over to Tony who was imputing a code on the screen.

"You know, I thought we were having a moment."

"I was having twelve percent of a moment." Diana chuckled, and Tony sort of did a half-glare. "This seems serious, Phil is pretty shaken."

"How would you know if he's- why is he Phil?"

"What's the matter," Diana asked, "jealous?"

"No, just protective."

"What is all this?" Pepper asked, bringing them back to the correct subject.

"This is," Tony placed his fingers on some pictures that had popped up and flung them so that they expanded on other screens that popped up around them, "this." Videos played of two men and a large green being in various battles.

Pepper blew out a breath. "I'm going to take the jet to DC tonight."

"Tomorrow."

"You have homework. Work hard." Pepper turned and headed back toward Phil while Diana turned back toward the screens.

"Miss Stark," Diana turned as Phil called her name. "I need you to come with me."

"Whoa, why?" Tony asked before Diana could say anything.

"Director Fury needs to speak with her."

"About what?"

"Tony," Diana interrupted. "It's alright. You'll be there eventually, I'll be fine." She turned to Coulson. "Do I have time to get a few things? I have this thing with being bored. It's really not good for me to be bored."

"Yes, but keep it small."

"Thanks."


	7. Brought on Board

**Okay, kind of a lot happens in this chapter. I hope you don't get lost. This was a fun chapter to write because we get a little more Loki POV. Hope you all enjoy!**

**Many thanks to TenebrisSagittarius for being the _only_ person to review so far. Come on, you guys! I know you're reading this! It doesn't take very long to write 'I like this,' or 'this needs work.' Please Review!**

**I do not own Avengers or any characters associated with Marvel. I only own Diana.**

* * *

Chapter Seven

Brought on Board

Coulson had Pepper dropped off at her condo, and then took Diana with him to the aircraft carrier that was their base. "Director Fury want's to speak to you. Please follow me." He led her to the bridge where Fury awaited.

"Welcome to Shield, Miss Stark. Nice to see you again."

"Hello, director. Agent Coulson said you wanted to talk to me about something."

"I do. Please have a seat." Diana sat down in one of the chairs around a large conference table. "Miss Stark, we are about to be host to a group of extraordinary people. Now, they all have their quirks and things that tick them off. Most of them are fighters when the time comes. What we need is someone who can try to help them all stay calm and work together."

"I hope you're not thinking what I think you're thinking, because I'm not all that good at keeping the peace. If I was, Tony wouldn't have gone into weapons in the first place."

"On the contrary, Miss Stark. I feel that you are just the person for the job. You have an inside scoop on how Stark's mind works, so that makes it easier for you to show the others how to deal with him. Most importantly, you have a love for mankind in general that I have never seen before. It is in the best intrests of mankind for this group to work well together."

Diana took a deep breath and silently prayed to Iant. _Should I say yes, or no?_ She didn't have to wait long before she got the feeling of a difinite yes. "What will I need."

Fury nodded in acknowledgement of her acceptance. "Just tell me what you think you'll need."

"Everyone will have some kind of suit, right?" she asked. Fury nodded. "I'll need something that has an element of everyone in it, so I'll need to know who all is going to be in this group. Also, I will eventually need a weapon. If I'm going to be part of this, I'm not going to be the only one sitting out if something goes wrong."

"We can do that. If you need anything from our uniform department, just ask an agent and they'll be more than happy to help you out. Now, you'd better get some rest," he signaled to an agent nearby, and she was taken to her quarters.

Loki sat in his hideout and summoned strength and a little magic to make contact with the Chitauri leader.

"The Chitauri grow restless," It said.

"Let them gird themselves," Loki answered as he created a projection dressed in his full, Asgardian battle gear to speak with It. "I will lead them in a glorious battle.

"Battle? Against the meager might of Earth?"

"Glorious, not lengthy. If your force is as... formidible as you claim."

"You question us! You question him? He who put the scepter in your hand. Gave you antient knowledge and new purpose when you were cast out, defeated!"

"I was a king! The rightful king of Asgard. Betrayed."

"Your ambition is little. Full of childish need. We look beyond the Earth to the greater world the Tesseract will avail."

"You don't have the Tesseract yet," It rushed toward him angrily, blue-skinned, double thumbed hand reaching toward him as though to hurt him. "I don't threaten," Loki said, lowering his scepter to a place where it would be easy to simply jab it forward into his head. "But until I open the doors, until your force is mine to command, you are but words."

"You will have your war, Asgardian." It with drew its hand and started to step to the side so that he would eventually be behind Loki. "If you fail, If the Tesseract is kept from us, there will be no realm, no barren moon, no crevace where we cannot find you. You think you know pain?" It was behind him now. Out of the corner of his eye, Loki could see his hand reaching out to the side of his head. "He will make you long for something as sweet as pain!"

It's hand touched the side of his face, and there was a flash of burning red that flung Loki's head to the side and broke the mental contact. It had hurt a little, like a burning slap, but Loki knew that It could have made it hurt more than that.

He thought about what It had said. He knew that It meant it. If he failed, he would be in so much trouble, that no one would be able to rescue him from it. For one, split second, Loki wished that things could have gone a different way.

The next morning, Coulson took Diana with him to pick up a man that Diana recoginzed as one of the men from the videos that Coulson had given Tony. He was tall with brown hair and blue eyes and he looked like he was well-muscled under his plaid shirt and brown leather jacket.

"Captain Rogers," he said to Diana as they got settled in some kind of aircraft that looked a little like a cross between a jet and a helecopter.

"Diana Stark, nice to meet you, Captain Rogers."

"Nice to meet you, Miss Stark."

"Please just call me Diana. I'm not into formalities between friends."

"Then you may call me Steve."

"Thank you."

Steve spent most of the flight looking at a screen similar to the one Coulson had given to Tony. Finally, the pilot said to Coulson, "We're about forty minutes out from home base, sir."

Coleson stood from his seat at a radar screen and came to stand in front of them. "So this Dr. Banner was trying to replicate the serum they used on me?" Steve asked, looking at some videos of the large, green being that Diana had seen back at the tower.

"A lot of people were," Coulson said. "You were the world's first superhero. Banner thought Gamma radiation might be the key to unlocking Erskin's original formula."

"Didn't really go his way, did it?" Steve asked.

"Not so much. When he's not that thing though, the guy's like a Steven Hawking." Steve looked up questioningly, not understanding the reference. "He's like a, smart person."

"As smart as Tony, or smarter?" Diana asked.

"I'd say it's almost even."

Steve turned off the tablet as Coulson started to have a bit of a fanboy moment, "I gotta say, it's an honor to meet you, officially. I sort of met you. I mean, I watched you, while you were sleeping," there was an akward pause. "I mean I was present, while you were unconcious," Steve stood and crossed to the other side of the cabin, "from the ice. Really, it's just a huge honor to have you on board."

"Well, I hope I'm the man for the job." Diana smiled at him, even though he couldn't see her since he was looking out the front windshield from behind the pilots.

"Oh, you are, absolutely," Coulson assured him. "We made some modifications to the uniform. I had a little design input."

"Uniform? Aren't the Stars and Stripes a little... old fashioned?"

"Everything that's happening, all the things that are about to come to light, people might just need a little old fashioned."

About thirty minutes later, they landed on a S.H.I.E.L.D. aircraft carrier. They stepped out, and the first person they met was Natasha Romanoff, Tony's assistant during the Palladium Panic, as Diana called it. Coulson did the introductions, "Agent Romanoff, Captain Rogers. And I think you know Miss Stark."

"Ma'am," Steve greeted her.

"Hi," she turned to Coulson. "They need you on the bridge, they're starting the face trace."

"See you there," Coulson said as he jogged off.

"It was quite the buzz around here," Natasha said to Steve, "finding you in the ice. I thought Coulson was gonna swoon. Did he ask you to sign his Captain America trading cards yet?"

"Trading cards?"

"They're vintage. He's very proud." They were approaching a man with dark brown hair who was looking at one of the jets. He looked a little lost until Steve called to him.

"Dr. Banner."

"Oh, yeah, hi," he said, walking over and shaking Steve's hand. "They told me you'd be coming."

"Word is, you can find the cube."

"Is that the only word of me?"

"Only word I care about."

Bruce gestured around him at the flight deck and the jets and said to Steve, "It must be strange for you, all of this."

"Well, this is actually kind of familiar."

"Gentlemen, Miss Stark," Natasha said from behind them, "you might want to step inside in a moment. It's gonna to get a little hard to breath." A loud clanking and groaning sound started up as well as an alarm, and someone on the P.A. system calling out orders to the crew. Diana heard a roar, like water swishing around.

"Is this a submarine?" Steve asked as the three of them headed toward the edge of the ship to see what was going on.

"Really?" Bruce said, irony evident in his voice. "They want me in a submerged, pressurized metal container?"

They all started walking toward the edge of the ship. When they got there, they saw something that was rising up out of the water and making a large whirlpool. There were four of them, two on each side of the ship. As the one closest to them came fully out of the water and started spinning, they realized what it was. It was a propeller. This was confirmed as the carrier began to lift up from the surface of the water. "Oh, no this is much worse," Bruce stated.

The wind from the propeller whipped Diana's hair around her face, and she quickly reached back with one hand to capture it and keep it still. As the carrier lifted from the water, Natasha led them inside to the bridge. There was a murmur of voices as people did different things at different stations and made sure everything was working the way it was supposed to.

Steve was clearly impressed, but Bruce just looked nervously at the guards by the door, and Diana sent him an encouraging smile. After all, if she was going to be the peacemaker, she might as well help Bruce stay relaxed as well.

Fury eventually turned toward them and greeted them, "Gentlemen, Miss Stark." Steve passed Fury and handed him a ten dollar bill. Diana didn't get it at first, but then she remembered Steve telling her about a bet that he made with Fury that nothing would really surprise him after all he had been through. She smiled, _Guess he found something that surprised him,_ she thought.

While Steve wandered forward to look at all the consoles and other interesting stuff that was there, Fury approached Bruce with a nod to Diana. "Doctor, thank you for coming."

"Thanks for asking nicely," Bruce replied, shaking Fury's hand. "So, um, how long am I staying?"

"Once we get our hands on the Tesseract, you're in the wind."

"Where are you with that?"

Fury pointed him in the direction of Agent Coulson who said, "We're sweeping every wirelessly accessible camera on the planet. Cell phones, laptops, if it's connected to a satelite, it's eyes and ears for us."

"That's still not going to find them in time," Natasha said from where she was looking at a screen that was searching for Clint Barton.

"You have to narrow your field," Bruce said. "How many spectrometers do you have access to?"

"How many are there?" Fury asked.

"Call every lab you know. Tell them to put the spectrometers on the roof and callibrate them for Gamma rays. I'll rough out a tracking algorithm. Basic cluster recognition. At least we could rule out a few places." Fury nodded. "You have somewhere for me to work?" he asked.

"Agent Romanoff, would you show Dr. Banner to his laboratory, please?"

"Would you like some help?" Diana asked. "I don't know very much about this stuff, but I think I could at least give you someone to bounce ideas off of. I do that for Tony all the time."

"I'd like that," he said with a nod and a slight smile.

"You're gonna love it, doc," Natasha said as she walked past them, leading them to his lab. "We've got all the toys."

* * *

**To those of you who are wondering who Iant is, don't worry. I'll answer that question in a few chapters.**


	8. Debut

**Hello again! Sorry I didn't update last week. I was busy. We finally get some action in this chapter, so this should be fun for everyone. Happy Thanksgiving, and I hope you all enjoy!**

**I do not own Avengers or any characters associated with Marvel. I only own Diana.**

* * *

Chapter Eight

Debut

Diana and Bruce were in the lab for about an hour before Natasha came with news. "We've found him. Fury wants you suited up, Diana. You're coming along."

"Is my suit ready?"

"Waiting for you in your room." Diana nodded, said good-bye to Bruce, and hurried toward her quarters.

She arrived to find the suit and her weapon lying on her bed. The suit was simple. She selected an outfit just like Natasha's, but had it altered so that it was a bit looser. Also, it was dark blue instead of black, and had green cuffs on the sliver sleeves and had silver piping down the sides of the pants. The blue was from Steve, and the green from Bruce. She didn't really know where the silver came from, other than she felt that she needed to include it.

There was another element in her costume that she added just so that she would be able to keep up with Tony when he arrived. The boots had rockets in them that would allow her to hover continuously three feet off the ground for about fifteen minutes, let her fly at about ten feet above the ground for ten minutes, or let her fly to the top of Stark Tower about three times before they ran out of power. The control for the boots was on her weapon.

Her weapon was only partly inspired by Clint's preference for bows. They didn't even know if they would be able to rescue him and have him join the team. However, during the Palladium Panic, she had started practicing with a bow and a small handgun so that she would be able to defend herself if she ran into any bad guys.

Meanwhile, in Germany, Loki prepared to crash an important party. He planned to use one of the men there to allow Barton and some of his other goons into a vault to get an element to use as a stabilizer for the Tesseract wormhole.

Loki walked down some steps, knocked a few guards out of the way, and grabbed his target. He slammed him down on a stone table-like thing, and then pulled out a device with three 'feet' and a spinning blade in the center. He held it poised for a moment before jamming down over the guy's eye.

People were rushing out the door onto the street, trying to get away from Loki. He finished with the guy and picked up the scepter before walking slowly and confidently after the people.

As he walked, his clothes morphed from earth clothes, to his Asgardian battle gear complete with horned helmet and long, green cloak. The scepter lengthened and regained the sharp points on the end that had been hidden while he was pretending to use it as a walking stick.

As the people rushed out, Loki created several projections of himself to stop them from running away. A police car was on its way, but was easily taken care of with a blast from his scepter.

"Kneel before me," Loki said as the people finally stopped when they realized that they were surrounded. At first they just stood there. "I said," Loki brought the butt-end of his scepter down on the concrete causing the gems in all the projection scepters to flash blue, "KNEEL!" Slowly, all the people knelt to the ground in fear.

Loki smiled. This was how it was supposed to be. "Is not this, simpler?" he asked, though he wasn't expecting an answer. "Is this not your natural state? It's the unspoken truth of humanity; that you crave subjugation. The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power, for identity. You were made to be ruled. In the end, you will always kneel."

An older man almost directly infront of Loki stood and turned to face him. "Not to men like you," he said.

Loki smiled, "There are no men like me."

"There are always men like you."

That made Loki a little angry. There was no one like him in the entire universe. Certainly not on this pathetic, human world. "Look to your elder, people," Loki said as he lifted his scepter. "Let him be an example."

Loki let the blue light linger on the end of the scepter just long enough for the man to realize what he was planning. Then the blue energy flew off the end of the scepter... and hit a shining, red, silver, and blue shield. The energy deflected off its surface and slammed into Loki dropping him to the ground.

Loki looked up and saw Captain America. "You know," he said as he walked toward Loki, his shield steaming from the blast it had deflected, "the last time I was in Germany, and saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing."

"The Soldier," Loki said as he stood. "A man out of time."

"I'm not the one who's out of time." Behind him, a glider-like aircraft flew in and hovered in the air over the street.

A large gun popped out of the bottom and pointed at him. "Loki, drop the weapon and stand down." Loki answered with a blast from his scepter. The craft veered to one side to dodge the blast, and Cap threw his shield at Loki. It bounced off and back at him as he ran forward.

People were scattering on all sides as Cap ran up and punched Loki in the face. Loki turned back, unaffected, and swung at Cap with his scepter. Cap blocked the first time, but then Loki swung again, knocking the shield out of the way and slamming him again causing Cap to slide backward.

As he picked himself up, Cap had a look in his eyes that said, 'Now this I know how to fight.' He threw his shield again, but Loki batted it aside with his scepter. Cap ran up and threw a punch at Loki, but he dodged. Loki swung at Cap with his scepter, but Cap bent backward out of the way.

Cap stood and dodged to the side as Loki swung down with his scepter. The scepter smashed some bricks before Loki pulled it up agian just in time for Cap to punch him in the side. Loki swung again and knocked Cap across the courtyard.

As Cap worked on getting to his feet, Loki strode over and placed the butt-end of his scepter on the back of Cap's helmet. "Kneel."

"Not today," Cap said as he pushed the scepter out of the way. He stood and jumped, spinning around and kicking Loki away.

Up in the quinjet, Natasha said, "Guy's all over the place."

As the fight continued, Diana said, "I should go down and help."

"No, Fury said for you to stay out of the fight."

"Then what am I here for?"

Just then, the sound of music came over the headsets they were wearing. "Agent Romanoff," came Tony's voice. "You miss me?" The display in front of Natasha flickered and displayed a message that said, 'PA system override.' As Tony flew in and blasted Loki, his theme song, Shoot to Thrill, blared from the quinjet's speakers.

"Oh," Diana said as she rolled her eyes. "That's why I'm here."

Loki slammed into some steps behind him. As he sat up, Tony pointed several of his weapons at him. "Make a move, Reindeer Games." As Cap walked up and stood beside Tony, Loki made his clothes morph into something simpler as he raised his hands.

Tony shut down his weapons, "Good move."

As the quinjet began to come in for a landing, Steve greeted Tony. "Mr. Stark."

"Cap'n."


	9. Unexpected Storm

**Hello again! This chapter is a little shorter, but still interesting. I hope you all like it.**

**You guys have caught up to me! I need to get to work so I can update next week. Thanks a TON for all the positive feedback for this story. You guys are great!**

**I do not own Avengers or any characters associated with Marvel. I only own Diana.**

* * *

Chapter Nine

Unexpected Storm

The quinjet was on its way back to the helicarrier. Loki was strapped into a seat while Tony, Steve and Diana stood watching him. Diana knew that he was dangerous, but she was a little more concerned with the fact that Tony and Steve were having their first discussion and it was likely not to turn out too well.

"I don't like it," Steve said.

"What, Rock of Ages giving up so easily?" Tony asked.

"I don't remember it being that easy. This guy packs a wallop."

"Still, you are pretty spry, for an older fellow." Diana glared at Tony, but he pretended not to notice as as he turned to Steve. "What's your thing, Pilates?"

"What?"

"It's like calisthenics. You might have missed a few things, you know, doing time as a Capsicle." Diana tried to glare at him again, but the effect was ruined since she couldn't help smiling at the word.

Steve decided to change the subject, "Fury didn't tell me he was calling you in."

"Didn't tell me either," Diana added.

"Yeah, there's a lot of things Fury doesn't tell you," Tony said. Thunder sounded outside.

"Whoa, where's this coming from?" Natasha asked from the pilot's seat. Thunder crashed loudly again.

Diana glanced toward Loki and saw him leaning forward and looking slightly worried as he gazed up. She tapped Steve to get his attention and nodded her head in Loki's direction.

"What's the matter?" Steve asked him. "Scared of a little lightning?"

"I'm not overly fond of what follows." Diana wrinkled her brow in confusion. Did he mean he didn't like thunder, or was there something more?

Suddenly, there was a thud on the top of the jet. Everyone was startled this time as the jet shuddered, and Loki looked more afraid than ever. It was then that Diana remembered who Loki was supposed to be related to.

Tony and Steve put on their helmets, and Diana pulled her hair back. When Tony opened the ramp at the back of the jet, Steve and Diana quickly looked up.

"What are you doing?" Steve called over the roar of the wind.

"I don't think that's such a good-" Diana began.

Before she could finish, Thor landed on the ramp. The look on Loki's face was definitely one of fear. Diana wondered if they should be concerned about this guy since Loki was afraid of him.

Before she could say or do anything, there was the whine as Tony powered up one of his hand repulsors. Before he could shoot though, Thor swung forward with his hammer and Tony flew back toward the front of the jet. Quickly, Thor reached out, pulled Loki free of the restraints and flew out the back of the jet.

Tony got to his feet, "Now there's that guy."

"Another Asgardian?" Natasha asked.

"It's Thor," Diana said with a nod.

"That guy's a friendly?" Steve asked incredulously.

"Doesn't matter," Tony replied. "If he frees Loki or kills him, the Tesseract's lost."

Tony was standing at the top of the ramp, ready to fly out after Thor and Loki. "Stark, we need a plan of attack!" Steve called, trying to get Tony to slow down and think.

"I have a plan, attack."

Steve shook his head as Tony rocketed out the back of the jet, and Diana said, "Might wanna get used to that. It's normal."

"It's gonna get him killed one day!"

"Tell him that, not me!" Steve shook his head again as he grabbed one of the parachutes from the rack and strapped it on his back. Diana quickly followed suit. She planned on using her boots to get her safely to the ground, but she wanted to make sure she had a back up just in case.

"I'd sit this one out Cap," Nat called from the cockpit. "You shouldn't go either, Diana."

"Don't see how I can," Cap replied. "There's too much at stake, we don't have much time."

"These guys come from legend, they're basicly gods."

"There's only one God, ma'am," Diana looked up at him in shock. "And I'm pretty sure He doesn't dress like that." With that, Steve lept out the back of the jet holding his shield close to his chest.

Diana was grinning broadly as she followed him. Who knew? Maybe Steve was a Iantian too.


	10. Don't Call Thor Names

**Happy New Year to everyone! I am so sorry that it took me this long to get this chapter finished! I hope you all enjoy it. The next chapter is when we get the answer to who Iant is. So please bear with me and wait for next week to get your answer.**

**I hope you all read my Avenger's Christmas story, An Old Fashioned Christmas: An Avenger's Romance. If I get up to ten reviews on that story, I will post a bonus epilogue inspired by New Years Day.**

**I do not own Avengers or any characters associated with Marvel. I only own Diana.**

* * *

Chapter Ten

Don't Call Thor Names

Meanwhile, Thor flew Loki to the top of a mountain and slammed him into the ground. "Where is the Tesseract?" Thor asked, his voice calm but a bit on the threatening side.

"I missed you too," Loki said, chuckling.

"Do I look to be in a gaming mood?!" Thor had no time for this.

"You should thank me," Loki said as he worked on getting himself into a sitting position. "With the Bifrost gone, how much Dark Energy did the All-father have to muster to conjure you here? Your precious Earth."

Thor dropped his hammer to the ground with a thud and stepped quickly to Loki, pulling him from the ground and placing his hand behind Loki's neck as he always used to do. Maybe a reminder of how they used to be would being Loki to his senses. "I thought you dead."

"Did you mourn?" Loki asked contemptuously.

"We all did. Our father-"

Loki cut him off with a raised finger, "Your father." He pushed Thor's hand away. "He did tell you my true parentage, did he not?" He walked past Thor holding one hand to his back which must have been sore from landing so hard on the rock.

"We were raised together," Thor reminded him. "We played together; we fought together! Do you remember none of that?"

"I remember a shadow," Loki replied, turning to face him. "Living in the shade of your greatness. I remember you tossing me into an abbys,"

_You LET GO, brother!_ Thor thought.

"I who was and should be king!"

"So you take the world I love as recompense for your imagined slights. No, the earth is under my protection, Loki."

Loki laughed, "And you're doing a marvelous job with that! The humans slaughter each other in droves while you idly fret. I mean to rule them, as why should I not?"

"You think yourself above them?"

Loki was a little surprised. Was that not obvious? "Well, yes."

"Then you miss the truth of ruling, brother. A throne would suit you ill."

Loki snarled, pushed past Thor again and went to stand where he had been thrown. "I've seen worlds you've never known about! I have grown, _Odinson_, in my exile," Loki spat the name at Thor. "I have seen the true power of the Tesseract, and when I weild it-" Thor cut him off.

"Who showed you this power?" he asked. "Who controls the would-be king?"

"I am a king!"

"Not here!" Thor pushed Loki back as though to try to push his words through Loki's thick skull. "You give up the Tesseract! You give up this poisonous dream!" He placed his hand behind Loki's head again, silently begging him to listen, to do as he was asking. "You come home."

Loki laughed once, softly, "I don't have it." Thor pushed him away and summoned Mjolnir. "You need the Cube to bring me home. But I've sent it off, I know not where."

"You listen well, brother." Thor was holding Mjolnir out threateningly, when something rocketed out of nowhere and slammed into him, knocking him off the mountain and into the forest below.

"I'm listening," Loki said, smirking inwardly. He settled himself down on the mountain to watch the battle he was sure would be coming.

Meanwhile, Tony had slammed Thor through a tree and sent him sliding across the dirt floor of the forest. As Thor picked himself up, Tony lifted the faceplate of his suit.

"Do not touch me again," Thor said.

"Then don't take my stuff," Tony replied.

"You have no idea what you're dealing with."

Tony glanced around, "Uh, Shakespeare in the Park?" Thor merely stared at him. "Doth Mother know you wear-eth her drapes?" Tony was being his usual, joking self and he could almost see Diana rolling her eyes at him as she did so often.

"This is beyond you, metal man. Loki will face Asgardian justice."

"He gives up the Cube, he's all yours. Until then," Tony lowered his faceplate, "stay out of the way." Thor lowered his head as Tony turned away. "Tourist." That was the last straw. With a grunt, Thor flung Mjolnir at Tony.

Tony turned just in time for the hammer to slam into his chest and send him backwards. For a moment, he just lay there. Now it was Tony's turn to be angry. "Okay."

Thor summoned Mjolnir back into his hand as Tony stood up. Thor started to swing Mjolnir in preparation, but Tony quickly powered up one of his repulsors and launched Thor back into a tree. Just as he was standing up, Tony used a burst from one of his boot rockets and flew forward, slamming his other foot into Thor's chest and bringing the tree crasing down.

Mjolnir tumbled out of Thor's hand, but he quickly pulled it back. Raising it to the sky, a powerful bolt of lightning shot down out of the sky and powered up the hammer. Thor then pointed the hammer directly at Tony, and the lighting fired out of the hammer's head.

Tony reflexively lifted one arm infront of his face to at least try to reduce the brightness. Finally, the lighting stopped, leaving glowing marks on the armor which quickly faded. "Power at 400% capacity," JARVIS informed Tony.

Tony was impressed and surprised. "How 'bout that?" Wasting no time, he used most of his extra power in a powerful beam that shot from his hands and chest. Thor flew back and slammed into another tree, but there wasn't much damage.

Thor swung Mjolnir forward and flew toward Tony. Tony powered up his repulsors and flew to meet Thor in midair. The momentum from Tony's repulsors was greater than Thor's, so Tony was able to send the two of them zooming toward one of the nearby mountains. They had a brief scuffle in midflight before Tony slammed Thor into the side of the mountain. Thor managed to knock one of Tony's hands free of his shoulder and then push himself off the mountain to send them hurtling back toward the forest below.

They knocked down a tree and Mjolnir went flying again. Tony threw a punch at Thor and hit him with little effect. He attempted to swing again, but Thor caught his arm in one hand, and his fist in the other. Thor started squeezing, and an alarm beeped in Tony's ear. The gauntlet beneath Thor's hand was buckling under the strong pressure. In a desperate attempt to get Thor to let go, Tony fired one of his repulsor's at the Asgardian's face. It worked, and Thor let go enough for Tony to grab him by the arms and head-but him. Thor was barely fased and replied with a head-but of his own, sending Tony tumbling backward and leaving a dent in his helmet.

Tony hardly spared a moment, to regain his breath. He rocketed back toward Thor, grabbed him, and flung him against a tree. Thor quickly stood and launched himself back at Tony. He smashed him with several punches before lifting him from the ground, and slamming him back down on his back. Thor called Mjolnir to him, and went to swing down at Tony. However, Tony activated his repulsors and managed to get himself out of the way just in time for Thor to get over balanced by his swing and face-plant on the ground.

Tony turned and used his rocket momentum to land another punch on Thor's face. Thor made to swing Mjolnir at Tony again, but they were interrupted when Captain America's disk-shaped shield rikashayed off their heads. "Hey!" he called, as his shield bounced back and landed back in his hand. Cap caught the shield and slid it back on his arm. "That's enough!" He jumped down from the splintered tree that he had been standing on, and landed on the ground right next to Diana. She had her bow out and an arrow on the string, but it was pointed at the ground.

"Now I want to know what you plan on doing here," Steve said to Thor.

"I've come here to put an end to Loki's schemes."

"Then prove it. Put that hammer down."

"Uh, yeah, no! Bad call! He loves his-" Tony was cut off as Thor swung Mjolnir against his chest, sending him flying backwards.

Diana's arrow snapped up to point at Thor, but Steve pushed it back down as Thor cried, "You want me to put the hammer down?" Thor leapt toward Steve and Diana, swinging his hammer down to connect with Captain America's shield.

"Get down!" Steve shouted at Diana. She dove behind him just as Thor's hammer connected with the shield. There was a bright flash where they hit each other, and a huge shockwave set both Thor and Steve flying backward. Not only that, but also flattned about a quarter of the forest.

A few moments later, they all struggled shakily to their feet. They surveyed the smashed battleground as Steve asked, "Are we done here?" No one said anything, and the silence was only broken when the Quinjet landed nearby.

When Thor flew up to retrieve Loki from the mountain top, Diana asked Tony, "What did you do that set him off like that?"

"I just called him 'Tourist.' I thought it was appropriate since he wasn't from here."

Diana shook her head at her brother. "Tony, don't call Thor names. It's hazardous to your health, and the health of everything around you," she gestured to the forest to prove her point.


	11. Cages

**Hello, everyone! In this chapter you, at last, get the answer to your question: Who is Iant? I personally loved writing this chapter. I had most of it written long before I actually started posting. I hope you all enjoy!**

**I hope you all read my Avenger's Christmas story, An Old Fashioned Christmas: An Avenger's Romance. If I get up to ten reviews on that story, I will post a bonus epilogue inspired by New Years Day.**

**I do not own Avengers or any characters associated with Marvel. I only own Diana.**

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Chapter Eleven

Cages

The flight back to the Helicarier didn't take long, and Loki found himself being escorted through the corridors under heavy guard. They passed a lab where Bruce Banner was working on some gadget. As he passed, Loki turned his head to look at the scientist. When they made eye contact, Loki smiled a knowing smile.

He was placed in a large, round cell with nothing in it except a single slab, built against one wall as a cot. The doors were fastened with heavy locks. A dark-skinned man with an eye-patch, whom Loki identified from Agent Barton's descriptions as Director Fury, strode up some stairs and over to a control panel where he began flipping switches.

"Just in case it's not clear. You try to escape... you so much as scratch that glass," he pressed a button and the metal floor beneath the cage irised open to reveal open space beneath him. "30,000 feet straight down in a steel trap. You get how that works?" he closed the portal and gestured from Loki to the buttons before him. "Ant, boot."

Loki chuckled inwardly at the return of his analogy when they first met. "It's an impressive cage. Not built, I think, for me."

"Built for something a lot stronger than you."

"Oh I've heard," Loki turned to look into the camera. He knew they were watching him, so he might as well talk to them. "A mindless beast, makes play he's still a man." He turned back to Fury, "How desperate are you, that you call on such lost creatures to defend you?"

"How desperate am I? You threaten my world with war. You steal a force you can't hope to control. You talk about peace, and you kill 'cause it's fun. You have made me very desperate. You might not be glad that you did."

Loki mentaly shook his head. Fury was just posturing. He could see in that one good eye how much he wanted the Tesseract back. "It burns you to have come so close. To have the Tesseract, to have power... unlimited power. And for what," he turned to the camera again, "a warm light for all mankind to share?" _Figure that out, Stark._ He turned back to Fury, "And then to be reminded what real power is."

"Well let me know if 'real power' wants a magazine or something," Fury said as he walked away. Loki remained standing in the middle of the cage for a moment, alone with his thoughts. Then, he was interrupted by a most surprising voice.

"You do know that he was just being facetious, right?" Loki turned, and saw a young woman standing against the glass of the cage.

He cocked his head questioningly, though he had an idea what she was talking about.

"You are not real power. Real Power can only come from Iant, the Creator of All Things."

Loki cringed inwardly at the sound of that name. He recognized it. It was the name of the Enemy, and it gave him a feeling of dread. "Who are you?" he asked.

She smiled, "Someone who wants to help you." Loki stared at her, confused. He recognized her from the jet that they had used to bring him there. She was still wearing the blue and silver outfit she had been wearing then, but she looked comfortable, not profesional. She had curly, dark brown hair, and brown eyes and a kind smile. Her eyes were filled with what he could only describe as pity. Pity, that was directed at him. The thought angered him. He needed no one's pity. He was too powerful to need pity.

"What do you mean, help me?"

"Oh, I don't want to help you escape the cage your body is in if that is what you are thinking. I want to help you escape the cage your soul is in."

"What do you know about my soul?" he snarled. Loki was getting angry. The girl was so calm, he had to find a way to rattle her.

"I know it is trapped inside you." She looked directly into his eyes. "Thor told me about your parentage." Loki glared into the camera, and then back at the girl.

"Yes, so what?"

"You feel abandoned. You think that, just because he is not your real father, Odin cannot love you as a son. They all love you. They mourned for you when they thought you were dead. You see, you loved them too. You were jealous of Thor, yes, but you still loved him. Deep inside yourself you know that you still love them as your family." She looked down, breaking eye contact with him. "I know how that feels."

Loki looked sharply at her. "What do you mean, you know how it feels?" he snarled, "You have never been abandoned by your family. You have never lived all your life as one person, only to find that you are someone else. You have never lost the only people you ever cared about!"

She snapped her head up, her eyes locking with his again, "I lost my parents in a car wreck when I was thirteen! I lost my brother to the glitter and dazzle of the outside world. I lost my best friend to the same. I lost our cook, the only woman who cared for me after my parents died, to cancer! You're right, I haven't lived as one person only to find that I am someone else, but I know what it is like to lose your family!"

Loki stared at her. He had more incommon with this human girl than he ever thought possible. They had both lost everything. A slow smile spread across his face. Maybe they could help each other. "I'm sorry I yelled at you," she whispered.

"You're right. You do know at least a little how I feel. Perhaps we can help each other," she looked up at him, but didn't say anything. "Let me out of here, and I will do whatever I can to help you."

She sighed and shook her head. "No, Loki. You don't understand. I cannot help you out of either cage that you sit in."

"What are you talking about?"

"You can't get either of us out of the predicaments that we are in."

Loki glared at her, "I am powerful, I can do whatever I want."

She shook her head, "You are powerful. I never said that you weren't. You just don't know how to apply it correctly."

"Enlighten me."

She chuckled, "I can't show you. Only Iant can show you that, and He will only do it if He has chosen you."

He glared at her. She used that Name again. How exactly did they get back to this subject? He thought they had reached an understanding. However, he decided to try humoring her a little, and see if he could get her to say something he could use against her. "How can I be chosen?"

She sighed again and placed her fingers against the glass as though trying to plead with him to listen. "This isn't something you can earn, Loki. The Parma says that the Grace of Iant is a gift. You can't earn it through works. If you could, that would allow people to boast that they were the one who saved themselves."

Loki couldn't help himself, "Stop saying that Name," he growled. Every time she used that Name, he could feel a dread inside him. He was through humoring her. He wanted her to go away.

She shook her head. "Oh, Loki. How far you have run from Him. I pray that, one day, He will reach out and stop you. That you will turn around and run in the correct direction."

"I am not running from anything, and I don't need anybody!"

She smirked, "You don't need anyone. Yeah, that's why you're sitting in a glass and steel cage waiting for someone to come and rescue you."

"Oh, so that's why you're here. To try to get information from me."

"No. I'm here as a messenger. I have a message from Iant. He wants you to know that everything is part of His plan. No matter what happens, He planned it from the very beginning of Time. He planned for you to be born small. He planned for Odin to find you in the temple and take you back to Asgard to be raised as his son. He allowed you to learn what you really were, and to feel betrayed because of it. He allowed you to try to take over our world. He has planned what will happen after this. You may think that you control your fate, but Iant controls everything, and everyone."

"Lies!"

"No, Loki Iantson. Not lies, Truth."

Loki stared at her. "What did you just call me?"

She looked genuinly surprised at herself. "I think I just called you Iantson. Now that is funny because I did not mean to say that. It just came out."

"I am no son of that liar! What has He ever done for me that I should be a son of His?!"

"He died for you, Loki."

"Why would he die for me?"

"Because if there was ever anyone in the universe who needed salvation, it would be you, Loki."

"I do not need to be saved."

"Um, yeah, you do. We all need to be saved from our sins. Odin, Thor, me, you, everyone needs to be saved from our sins. We are running from Him until he reaches out and stops us and says, 'I choose you to be my child'. Based on the fact that I, for some reason, called you Iantson, I would say that He just chose you."

For once, Loki was speachless. Why would his enemy call him Son? It just didn't compute. The girl glanced at her watch. "I gotta go. Tony's going to be mad enough at me as it is. I'd better not keep him waiting any longer." She was about to turn and walk away, but she hesitated a moment. "Iant loves you, Loki. Whenever He finally turns you around and shows you where to start, I have a feeling that you will do a whole lot of good in this universe."


End file.
